No matter what the source, all proteins are digested and broken down into building blocks called amino acids, which can then be used to build new proteins within our own cells.

The research team found the link between high levels of amino acids and making mistakes by first discovering the body’s protective mechanism and then performing experiments to find out what would happen if this protective mechanism was eliminated.

Dr Proud says that’s why the experiments could only be done in worms, fruit flies and human cells outside of the body, rather than in real people.

Scientists interested in the links between nutrition, health and lifespan are fascinated by the effect known as “caloric restriction”, where reducing energy intake without restricting the supply of essential nutrients has been shown time and time again to increase longevity.

Dr Proud says there is no doubt eating less makes you live longer and it works in all kinds of animals, “in all systems we’ve ever checked”.

But when the protective mechanism that normally acts to correct mistakes in protein synthesis was eliminated, the effect of caloric restriction was gone.